Brewing something with pineapple, 'Cider'?

[Deltabrew]

I couldn't think of a better name for it (there probably is one!) than cider, but what would happen if I brewed like I do with cider, but replaced the apple juice with Pineapple instead?
I've done a bit of a search around and found nothing, all I know is the acidity is similar to apple and it would probably take a bit of clearing.
What do you think?

 

[IainM]

Sure, why not. There is a reason why cider is popular and similar drinks from other fruit aren't; cider apples can provide just the right balance of sugar, flavour, acidity and astringency and they are easy to grow, harvest and prepare in bulk, and naturally give a clear product with good shelf life. That said you're doing this small scale and with modern ways of adjusting all these parameters there is no reason why you couldn't start with straight pineapple juice and adjust towards something unique and delicious.

 

[BeerCat]

I fermented up some pineapple juice last year with some sugar and made a wine. Its not much like cider but tasted quite nice on bottling. I did lose a large amount due to all the bits in the juice. Looked like a brain compacted in the bottom.

 

[Frogbrew]

I regularly make a pineapple cider using 3.5ltr apple juice to 1ltr pure pineapple, not sure the pineapple only would work though. Try it, not much to lose in a small batch.

 

[Graz]

Just be warned, I made pineapple wine a while back and it was one of the most vigorous fermentations I've ever seen. Properly climbed out of the airlock. Others had said it would do as much as well.

Make sure you've got plenty of headspace in whatever you ferment it in and have a blow off tube at the ready!

 

[Deltabrew]

Thanks for the replies, if I give it a go i'll let you know how it turns out. :smile:

 

[Deltabrew]

Well I set it off on Sunday, sadly I didn't check back here to heed Graz' good advice
Because I use a sachet of yeast with sweetener i'm pretty much stuck to making 25L so in it all went with Pectolase and almost 1kg sugar, leaving about 2" clear at the top. The apple cider i'm used to making isn't very volatile at all for some reason, but I came home Monday eve to find the Pineapple merrily bubbling over after it had popped the lid off the bucket.
Not too much of a problem I thought as I picked it up and sat it on the mop bucket so it could drip into there while I got my dinner.
5 mins later I hear the sound of a mop bucket collapsing and the whoosh as about 6 or 7 litres of brew goes all over the floor. That's my Monday eve sorted then i'm thinking as I reach for the mop.
So it now has 5" of head space and it was still sick on the floor in the night!

The problem I have is I don't know what I've lost in terms of sugar and yeast, I don't know whether it was sat on the bottom and i've lost mainly juice or what (I heat the sugar to dissolve it before adding initially).
So not off to a great start, but we'll see what happens and i'll report back.

So what is it that makes some brews more volatile than others?

 

[Thumper]

Christ, not the best of starts. I hope it's ok, I'm interested to see how this turns out.

 

[BeerCat]

It will be fine dont worry. The fermentation mixes it all up in anycase. I made pineapple wine and it ooozed out. Had what looked like a brain on the top. Nice wine but lost quite a lot but it does clear well if left.

 

[Frogbrew]

Did you take a SG? Its gonna be strong with 1kg sugar if you only used juice and no water.

 

[Deltabrew]

Sadly I forgot to take SG readings, but yes I like it strong. I make cider at about 9% as I enjoy the hit and don't drink a lot in quantity.
I added another 5l of juice to bring the quantity up again, but not as much as there was in before.

It was all over and done fermenting last week, so bottled up last weekend, no real surprises on anything really (apart from it being so volcanic initially!).
As you can imagine there was a good thickness of lees (maybe 1.5") and it was still cloudy, but I wanted it bottled before the yeast died so added some sugar and hope it creates co2.
I'll update in a few weeks or months when it's matured, but initially it tastes fine.

So the big question; what does it taste like?
Well cider made from pineapples of course!

 

[Pirate_Pete]

I ferment Grapefruit Juice like this. What I do is pour it in through a hop sock. That way all the bits of grapefruit end up in the hop sock and less lees.

 

[ScottE75]

Hi guys, I've just started a gallon of mixed fruit TC. It's made up with 2 ltrs of Tropical juice, 1 ltr of apple and 1 ltr of orange. Sounds weird, but I use the exact same juice in a WOW I regularly make now because it tastes great. Not sure if it's cider or an alcopop, but I tasted a bit when I took an SG reading, and it's as tart as a cider should be and really refreshing. Can't wait to pop a couple of bottles in the fridge to have some cold ones.

My previous TCs have been hit and miss or an outright disaster, so I'm hoping this will be better.